Yesterday was pretty uneventful. We decided to take a break and sleep in a bit as we are pretty exhausted. We ate a late breakfast at our Edinburgh B&B, packed up, said goodbye to Shaun (our host), and then took a bus to the train station. We were ready to go with plenty of time to make it to our train but then the credit card machine wasn't working properly which took some time to figure out which caused us to barely miss our bus so had to wait for a later one (which was also running late), then traffic was horrible, and we had to practically run off our bus into the station. We then went to a ticket kiosk to collect our pre-paid tickets but the card reader wasn't reading our card correctly EITHER...so we ran around trying to get our tickets. We finally got our tickets and made it to the train with about 5 minutes to spare. What we thought was going to be a relaxing morning turned out to be a bit stressful.
The train ride was about 4.5 hours so we watched "The Help" on the iPad...great movie!...and tried to snooze a little before arriving in London. We arrived around 6, ate at a nearby pizza place, and then took the tube to our bed and breakfast. Our hosts here seem very nice! The house is a bit older and we are sleeping in twin beds but can't complain!
This morning, we ate a full English breakfast which was different from the Scottish breakfast. For those of you who know Matt, you'll smile at the thought of him having to eat a stewed tomato as part of his meal. Ha...I enjoyed watching that. Along with the tomato, it consists of eggs, bacon, sausage, and apples.
After breakfast, we rode the tube into town, walked around trying to orient ourselves, and ended up finding Westminster Abbey first! We jumped in line to tour the Abbey right away. I told Matt this was like my Disneyland...seriously, I think I have a small obsession with royalty. I know that my Grandma White will smile while reading this because she understands my thoughts exactly! So Granny, I of course walked everywhere that Kate walked at her wedding and thought of you :) I could only take photos of the outside of the Abbey but being inside where so many kings and queens have been sworn in, had their funerals, and had been married was surreal. It's hard to grasp that you are standing amongst that much history. We then walked past Big Ben & the Parliament buildings, and the London eye. After lunch, we walked to Buckingham Palace which was also surreal. Again, Granny, I thought of you and how I was wishing you were here with me. I know you'd appreciate it as much as I did! I stalked Prince Harry at Clarence House and then we toured the Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace. The exhibit is an extraordinary display of two men's expeditions to the South Pole back in the early 1900's. The photos were presented to King Henry (I think) so they are part of the Royal Collection now. I was a little bummed that the Royal Mews (all of the Royal carriages and cars) is closed until the end of January as well as the State Rooms in the Palace...but oh well!
We ended the evening reading in Starbucks and warming ourselves up for about 2 hours and just got done eating some phad thai at a Thai restaurant near our home. That's about it for the past few days! Happy almost New Year's!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Day 3 in Edinburgh & Day 4 in St. Andrews
Here MOM...I only skipped blogging for one day and she gets so demanding...
Well here we are on our last night in Edinburgh. We have fallen in love with this place! Yesterday, we woke up, had our usual Scottish breakfast courtesy of our host Shaun, which includes eggs, bacon, baked beans, toast, porridge, tea, orange juice, and sausage. And yes, I do eat it all. Don't judge. After breakfast, we hiked up to the Edinburgh Castle and spent the morning touring it. It was BEAUTIFUL! Seriously, such an amazing experience. After the castle, we ate at a little restaurant called Amber where we just had soup and sandwiches. Then we trotted down to Arthur's Seat and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The Palace is Queen Elizabeth's official residence whenever she visits Scotland. She usually comes in July for a month and this is where she stays. Other members of the Royal family also use it frequently. Just outside the palace is Arthur's Seat which is an extinct volcano that you can hike up. Matt hiked to the top of Arthur's Seat while I sat in the palace's cafe, drank hot chocolate, and read. He snapped some incredible shots from the top!
After the hike, we walked to Cadenhead's Whiskey Shop, a recommendation of Rick Steves (don't even get me started on how much I love Rick Steves...I walk around with his book in my hands reading all the time...don't travel without his books, seriously!) This was the coolest little hole in the wall place. There are many gimmicky, touristy whiskey (scotch) stores around Edinburgh but this one was just the opposite. Matt bought some single malt scotch straight from the barrel. He is enjoying a glass as we speak. After scotch buying, we trotted down to Princes Street and ate dinner at 1780...a Scottish Pub. We enjoyed a DELICIOUS meat and ale pie with some toffee pudding...as well as a few brewskis. End of day 3.
Today, we woke up early and took the bus to St. Andrews. It is the coldest and windiest...most windy?...day yet. We bundled up and braved it to walk the Old Course although. This was an amazing experience. It was so green and beautiful with the waters of the North Sea just to our east. We toured the museum of the British Open beforehand and then enjoyed a rainbow over the course as we walked the 18th hole. Matt enjoyed pretending he was a famous golfer... we kept thinking about both of our dads wishing they were there to enjoy it with us.
For lunch, we ended up in some hotel restaurant that was owned by a Scottish woman and her Texan husband. They had photos all over the walls of their famous and not-so-famous guests that have visited their eatery over the years. It was fun to spend some time in there imagining the golfers coming in for a cold beer after a long day on the Links.
And now for my favorite part of this entire vacation...stalking Wills' and Kate's old stomping grounds at the University of St. Andrews. Yes, I'm that person...went to see their dorm rooms, etc. Quite enjoyable for me, not sure what Matt's thoughts were but I had no shame in doing this!
On the way home, the wind was so horrible that the bridge to get back into Edinburgh was closed to the buses so we got dropped at a random bus station and had to wait there for the next bus that was willing to brave the wind. We ended up getting home only about 1.5 hours later than expected so it wasn't too bad other than the fact that I thought we were going to tip over a few times.
We decided to spend the night in Edinburgh again instead of taking the overnight train to London. So, we are just about to hit the hay and we will travel south to London tomorrow! Exciting but slightly bittersweet to leave this new little place we have grown to love in just 4 days...goodnight!
Well here we are on our last night in Edinburgh. We have fallen in love with this place! Yesterday, we woke up, had our usual Scottish breakfast courtesy of our host Shaun, which includes eggs, bacon, baked beans, toast, porridge, tea, orange juice, and sausage. And yes, I do eat it all. Don't judge. After breakfast, we hiked up to the Edinburgh Castle and spent the morning touring it. It was BEAUTIFUL! Seriously, such an amazing experience. After the castle, we ate at a little restaurant called Amber where we just had soup and sandwiches. Then we trotted down to Arthur's Seat and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The Palace is Queen Elizabeth's official residence whenever she visits Scotland. She usually comes in July for a month and this is where she stays. Other members of the Royal family also use it frequently. Just outside the palace is Arthur's Seat which is an extinct volcano that you can hike up. Matt hiked to the top of Arthur's Seat while I sat in the palace's cafe, drank hot chocolate, and read. He snapped some incredible shots from the top!
After the hike, we walked to Cadenhead's Whiskey Shop, a recommendation of Rick Steves (don't even get me started on how much I love Rick Steves...I walk around with his book in my hands reading all the time...don't travel without his books, seriously!) This was the coolest little hole in the wall place. There are many gimmicky, touristy whiskey (scotch) stores around Edinburgh but this one was just the opposite. Matt bought some single malt scotch straight from the barrel. He is enjoying a glass as we speak. After scotch buying, we trotted down to Princes Street and ate dinner at 1780...a Scottish Pub. We enjoyed a DELICIOUS meat and ale pie with some toffee pudding...as well as a few brewskis. End of day 3.
Today, we woke up early and took the bus to St. Andrews. It is the coldest and windiest...most windy?...day yet. We bundled up and braved it to walk the Old Course although. This was an amazing experience. It was so green and beautiful with the waters of the North Sea just to our east. We toured the museum of the British Open beforehand and then enjoyed a rainbow over the course as we walked the 18th hole. Matt enjoyed pretending he was a famous golfer... we kept thinking about both of our dads wishing they were there to enjoy it with us.
For lunch, we ended up in some hotel restaurant that was owned by a Scottish woman and her Texan husband. They had photos all over the walls of their famous and not-so-famous guests that have visited their eatery over the years. It was fun to spend some time in there imagining the golfers coming in for a cold beer after a long day on the Links.
And now for my favorite part of this entire vacation...stalking Wills' and Kate's old stomping grounds at the University of St. Andrews. Yes, I'm that person...went to see their dorm rooms, etc. Quite enjoyable for me, not sure what Matt's thoughts were but I had no shame in doing this!
On the way home, the wind was so horrible that the bridge to get back into Edinburgh was closed to the buses so we got dropped at a random bus station and had to wait there for the next bus that was willing to brave the wind. We ended up getting home only about 1.5 hours later than expected so it wasn't too bad other than the fact that I thought we were going to tip over a few times.
We decided to spend the night in Edinburgh again instead of taking the overnight train to London. So, we are just about to hit the hay and we will travel south to London tomorrow! Exciting but slightly bittersweet to leave this new little place we have grown to love in just 4 days...goodnight!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Day 1 & 2 in Edinburgh
It's now Tuesday evening and we've spent two whole days in Edinburgh. We love this place! The history, the architecture, the people, and the cleanliness of the city are all reasons to fall in love. Yesterday morning after our nap, we forced ourselves to get out of bed despite the lack of sleep to try to get on a normal sleep schedule. Our B&B is a quick 20 minute stroll away from the center of the city so we bundled up and walked in. The temperature is fairly moderate...somewhere around 40-45 degrees but the wind is horrendous! It is nice to feel the cool weather although, leaving Charleston when it's 75 degrees definitely makes it feel like any time of the year except Christmas. Beings it was Christmas day, everything in the town was shut down and most people were at home with their families. This made it very quiet but we kind of liked it. As a promise to Miss Julie Waller, we found a Scottish pub, Deacon Brodie's Tavern, to enjoy fish and chips and a cold beer as our Christmas dinner. She said that is what SHE wanted for Christmas but didn't exactly have to twist our arm. It was delicious Jules...thanks for dinner!
After we ate, we walked up and down the "Royal Mile" and came home...The Royal Mile actually consists of 4 different streets which once divided two settlements, Edinburgh & Canongate. At the beginning of the mile is the Edinburgh Castle (which we are touring tomorrow) that dates back to the 11th century. Hard to believe. We basically came back home after our self-guided walking tour but not before Matt stopped to grab a few brews from a local convenience store. He thought he was buying really manly, stout Scottish beer, but in fact it was hard apple cider. Fail. He drank about half of one.
We came back home around 6:00 as everything was shut down in the city, and by 7, we were both ready for bed. We went to sleep and woke up about 3 hours later wide awake, watched a movie on the iPad, and then attempted to go back to sleep for a few hours. Let's just say this morning was a little rough! Our host, Shaun, made us the most delicious, full Scottish breakfast complete with poached eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, toast, and unlimited OJ. We started the day off right.
We then headed into town for the day...touring the National Museum of Scotland, the Scotch Whiskey Experience (a.k.a. "Malt Disney"), tried for the 2nd time to attend mass at St. Giles Cathedral (closed...but open tomorrow), and went to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Today is "Boxing Day" in Scotland, a holiday that follows Christmas Day where people go out and SHOP! So...I ended my day at Zara (I thought of you Alicia...and Kari, I finally bought my blazer!) Everything was on sale...good thing we only have carry-ons! Tonight, we ate dinner at Zizzi which was an amazing pasta and pizza joint. Now, we are home and we actually made it to 9:00 so far so we are doing better than last night.
That's about all for today...hope you had a lovely day after Christmas:)
After we ate, we walked up and down the "Royal Mile" and came home...The Royal Mile actually consists of 4 different streets which once divided two settlements, Edinburgh & Canongate. At the beginning of the mile is the Edinburgh Castle (which we are touring tomorrow) that dates back to the 11th century. Hard to believe. We basically came back home after our self-guided walking tour but not before Matt stopped to grab a few brews from a local convenience store. He thought he was buying really manly, stout Scottish beer, but in fact it was hard apple cider. Fail. He drank about half of one.
We came back home around 6:00 as everything was shut down in the city, and by 7, we were both ready for bed. We went to sleep and woke up about 3 hours later wide awake, watched a movie on the iPad, and then attempted to go back to sleep for a few hours. Let's just say this morning was a little rough! Our host, Shaun, made us the most delicious, full Scottish breakfast complete with poached eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, toast, and unlimited OJ. We started the day off right.
We then headed into town for the day...touring the National Museum of Scotland, the Scotch Whiskey Experience (a.k.a. "Malt Disney"), tried for the 2nd time to attend mass at St. Giles Cathedral (closed...but open tomorrow), and went to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Today is "Boxing Day" in Scotland, a holiday that follows Christmas Day where people go out and SHOP! So...I ended my day at Zara (I thought of you Alicia...and Kari, I finally bought my blazer!) Everything was on sale...good thing we only have carry-ons! Tonight, we ate dinner at Zizzi which was an amazing pasta and pizza joint. Now, we are home and we actually made it to 9:00 so far so we are doing better than last night.
That's about all for today...hope you had a lovely day after Christmas:)
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas from Edinburgh!
Merry Christmas from Scotland! Matt and I have finally arrived and are ready to celebrate our Christmas day in Scottish fashion. We are thinking of our families and missing them dearly but are treasuring our time together, just the two of us. Next Christmas may look very different :)
We left Charleston at about noon yesterday with a quick flight to Newark, NJ. It was slightly eerie to get on this flight as it was mostly empty with only 10 passengers. Strange beings it was Christmas Eve. After a quick 1.5 hours, we touched down at Newark and I was fascinated by the view of lower Manhatten just out the window. I have never been to NYC but hope to cross that off our bucket list while we're over here on the east coast. For now although, my view from the airport will suffice. We spent the next 5 hours hanging out in the airport, trying to stay awake so that we could sleep on the plane. We were both really tired and wanted to take a nap but we read, watched football, and ate dinner in an Irish Pub instead.
At 7:00pm, we boarded our flight. We ended up sitting on the runway until about 8:30 as they fixed something but with the endless choice of movies and TV shows, we were easily entertained. As soon as the flight took off, they fed us dinner...some sort of chicken dish that was really good actually. I started watching a movie and Matt was reading but we quickly fell asleep. I kept waking up to turbulence but the entire flight was quiet and dark so it was easy to sleep. The flight went by VERY quickly. It was soon time to get up, eat some breakfast, and land.
We gathered our things, went through customs, and walked out to find a taxi. This cute old man drove us to our Bed & Breakfast telling us all kinds of neat information about what we have to do while we are here. Just about an hour ago, we arrived at our B&B. Shaun (our host) seems very lovely and made us feel right at home. I know he is married but we haven't met his wife yet...they both have great reviews though so I'm sure she is just as sweet. For now, we are going to take a nap (we are TIRED! It's only 4:00am SC time) and then head into town to enjoy our Christmas day by viewing the Norwegian Christmas tree & attending mass at St. Giles Cathedral. Who knows what else the day holds...
Merry Christmas everyone! We miss all our family and friends back in Montana today but are thinking of you. Eat some prime rib for me!
We left Charleston at about noon yesterday with a quick flight to Newark, NJ. It was slightly eerie to get on this flight as it was mostly empty with only 10 passengers. Strange beings it was Christmas Eve. After a quick 1.5 hours, we touched down at Newark and I was fascinated by the view of lower Manhatten just out the window. I have never been to NYC but hope to cross that off our bucket list while we're over here on the east coast. For now although, my view from the airport will suffice. We spent the next 5 hours hanging out in the airport, trying to stay awake so that we could sleep on the plane. We were both really tired and wanted to take a nap but we read, watched football, and ate dinner in an Irish Pub instead.
At 7:00pm, we boarded our flight. We ended up sitting on the runway until about 8:30 as they fixed something but with the endless choice of movies and TV shows, we were easily entertained. As soon as the flight took off, they fed us dinner...some sort of chicken dish that was really good actually. I started watching a movie and Matt was reading but we quickly fell asleep. I kept waking up to turbulence but the entire flight was quiet and dark so it was easy to sleep. The flight went by VERY quickly. It was soon time to get up, eat some breakfast, and land.
We gathered our things, went through customs, and walked out to find a taxi. This cute old man drove us to our Bed & Breakfast telling us all kinds of neat information about what we have to do while we are here. Just about an hour ago, we arrived at our B&B. Shaun (our host) seems very lovely and made us feel right at home. I know he is married but we haven't met his wife yet...they both have great reviews though so I'm sure she is just as sweet. For now, we are going to take a nap (we are TIRED! It's only 4:00am SC time) and then head into town to enjoy our Christmas day by viewing the Norwegian Christmas tree & attending mass at St. Giles Cathedral. Who knows what else the day holds...
Merry Christmas everyone! We miss all our family and friends back in Montana today but are thinking of you. Eat some prime rib for me!
Monday, December 12, 2011
MIA
Oh how I'm missing my blog. I long to wake up, drink some peppermint mocha infused coffee, turn on Christmas music, and sit down to blog. I'm looking forward to doing just that in about 5 mornings. This week is the last week of school before Christmas break. Let me preface this by saying that I LOVE my job. I really do...my heart melts every day because of these children and I could not imagine doing anything else in the world for a career. I have been so blessed to be hired where I am. Before I left Seattle, I was offered a job at what I thought was going to be my dream school. I know it would have been an amazing experience but God had other plans for me. In the following months, I became quite discouraged after 5 months of searching for a teaching job but tried to be faithful in knowing that just the right opportunity would pop up. It did. Never in a million years would I imagine that I would be in South Carolina with these oh-so-southern students but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I will be catching up with you next week...can't wait!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Joyful
Loving all things Christmas...missing friends and family in Montana & Seattle during this holiday season. Grateful for a loving husband & the cutest puppy. Merry December!
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